Artist&#39;s paint tube rack



Jan. 13, 1959 F. J. ANGELL ARTISTS PAINT TUBE RACK Filed June 25, 1956 United. States Patent ARTISTS PAINT TUBE RACK Frank Jordon Angeli, New York, N. Y.

Application June 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,673

4 Claims. (Cl. 414) .My invention relates to the art of fine painting and has for its object the facilitation of the artists handllng of his materials. More particularly, one object of my invention is to provide the means for maintaining the numerous collapsible paint tubes the artist uses in his work and carries in his paint box in a relatively permanent systematic order. Another object of my invention is to reduce to a minimum the necessity to manipulate the separate tubes during the process of painting. A still further object of my invention is to provide a rack for said tubes which, in view of the existing standardization in the paint box sizes and the structure of their cover sections, would fit into the cover section of any standard size paint box.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 represents a conventional type of paint box; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my novel paint tube rack; Fig. 3 is a side view of said rack; Fig. 4 is a back view of the same; Fig. 5 is a compound view of the brackets associated with the rack; Fig. 6' is a perspective view of a paint box containing my rack in its cover section and incorporating a paper-roll palette as an auxiliary painting tool; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the interior of the box shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a brush rack attachable to the paint box.

It is well known that when preparing to execute a painting it is the common practice for the artist to squeeze small quantities of paint on his palette from the various paint tubes he generally keeps in his paint box. The palette will then serve for the mixing of the colors thereupon prior to their being carried to the canvas by the painters brush. Since the quantities of paint which the palette can contain are necessarily small, the artist, while covering a canvas of even a medium size, is obliged to reach repeatedly to his tubes for the purpose of replenishing the palette. This latter operation involves the reading of the tubes labels in order to find the right color, unscrewing the cap of the respective tube, squeezing the paint out, replacing the cap and putting the tube away. These frequent interruptions of the creative process of painting have come to be considered by the artist as a necessary evil. It is the purpose of my invention to eliminate the above series of inconvenient operations connected with the replenishing of the palette and substitute for them a single pressure with the finger upon the readily identifiable and accessible tube.

By an agreement between the artists materials manufacturers in this country and abroad the dimensions and the general structure of the artists paint box have been standardized, the most popular sizes for the breadth and the length of the interior of the box being 10" x 14" and 12" x 16" corresponding to the standard sizes of the small canvas-boards insertable into the cover section of the conventional box (Fig. 1), for which purpose such boxes are provided with suitable slots or grooves 2 in their cover whose hinged front wall 3 can be turned up to admit said boards. Since, however, most artists today, whether painting at home or outdoors, find such small canvas-boards of no great necessity, I have deplate.

signed my rack to fit into the above said grooves 2 available .in thecover section of the conventional box. Refering to Fig. 2, itwill be seen that the rack consists of a base plate 5 made of plywood or some plastic material such as formica having integrally mounted on its front side two rows of small perpendicular, equally spaced partitions 8 preferably of the same material as the base Oil-tube sizes having also been internationally standardized, their diameter being equal to 1" and their length to 4", the spaces between said perpendicular plates or partitions are made somewhat larger than 1" to accommodate the tubes in-between as seen in Figs. 2 and 6, the latter figure showing also the rack as inserted into the cover section of a paint box. Three thin rods in each row-11, 12, 13 and 11', 12, 13' respectively (Fig. 2) are provided for supporting the tubes in an inverted vertical position, the rods themselves being secured in place by being made to thread through suitable perforations provided in each of the partitions 8. The lowest and the inmost rods 13 and 13' are positioned to offer a bearing point for the tubes from below immediately behind the tube'heads While the two lateral rods 11, 12 and 11, 12 respectively prevent the tubes from falling out when the cover is tilted forward from its open position. Instead of stifi rods, however, elastic bands could be used for lateral support as shown at 14, Fig. 6 where said bands are shown as being held in place by passing their ends through suitable perforations 7 in the base board 5 and by knotting said ends. Provisions have been made to permit the painter to manipulate the tubes, e. g., remove their caps prior to painting and squeeze the tube by pressure without removing the same from their compartments. This has been achieved partly by suitable spacing and location of the supporting rods and partly by imparting to the lower ends of the partitions 8 a suitably curved and receding contour to permit the fingers to grasp and turn the tube caps (Figs. 2, 3). It should be noted, furthermore, that after a tube has been greatly reduced in size by exhaustion, it will be still held in place as shown at 26', Fig. 2. It should be noted that instead of two lateral rods, such as 11 and 12, a single one could be used without much inconvenience.

Besides the above described means for maintaining the paint tubes on the rack in a visible and operational order, said rack is provided also with means for receiving the small quantities of paint squeezed from the tubes. These latter means comprise two plates 15 and 15' extending longitudinally and horizontally in front, one below each row of tubes. Means are provided in the form of suitable supporting brackets to render these two plates or supplementary palettes positionable with respect to the base board and the overhanging tubes and readily removable for cleaning. Said brackets (Figs. 3 and 5) consist of a fixed member 16 attached to the base by bolts 17 and a rotatable member 18 joined to the former by friction hinge 19 whose axis comprises a threaded bolt 21 tightenable upon said hinge by nut 22 and spring-Washer 23. While reposing on the pivotally and frictionally supported bracket members 18, the supplementary palettes 15 and 15' can be either positioned horizontally for receiving the paint from the tubes during the painting process or, after the painting is over and they have been cleaned, they can be dropped down for the purpose of closing the box, being held in place while in said dropped position by the curved ends 24 and 24' of members 18. In this last position, furthermore, they can be readily lifted out for cleaning purposes. If, while painting, the artist needs an additional quantity of paint, he has only to press lightly on the tube and the desired amount will descend upon the supplementary palette as shown at 50, Fig. 2. While preparing to paint, after removing the caps from the tubes containing the colors he needs, the artist may choose to deposit various small quantities of paint upon the supplementary palettes irom which the former is picked up with the brush for either painting directly upon the held in a permanent systematic order and a state of ready manipulation is self-evident. Since paint box covers are generally made with three sets of grooves to .hold three spare" canvases, their depth is never less than 1 /2" inside. "By making the height of the partitions 15 less than 1%, just enough for the lateral rods 11 and 12 to leave approximately 1 space for the tubes inside the partitions, the cover can be readily lowered to close the paint box with the rack inside fully loadedwith tubes. The paint tube rack as described above will, therefore, fit .into any standard make and size paint box now on the market as well into such as are actually in use by individual artists.

Having thus fully described my novel artists paint tube rack, what I claim as my invention is:

'1. An artists paint tube rackslidable into the normally grooved cover of the conventional artists paint box comprising a base plate, rows of perpendicular partitions on the front side of said plate, a minimum of two rods traversing said partitions close to their peripheries .for the purpose of encaging the paint tubes in the compartments formed by said partitions and for 4 maintaining them in a downward-pointing position, and pivotally projecting removably mounted longitudinal plates extending one under each row of tubes for the purpose of receiving the handexpressed paint from said tubes.

2. In a paint tube rack according to claim 1 the dimensions of the partition plates as Well as the dimensions and the positionability of the receiver plates being such as to permit the ready manipulation of the tubes and the ready closure of the paint box.

3. In a paint tube rack according to claim 1, the substitution of elastic bands in lieu of the stifi rods enclosing the tubes.

4. A paint tube rack comprising a base plate insertable into the conventional canvas slots available in the cover section of the normal artists paint box, rows of compartments on the face side of said plate formed by perpendicular partitions closeable by wire-like 'means to hold the tubes therein in an inverted position, and further plate-like means on said base plate extending under'the rows of tubes for the receipt of the discharge therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent Schmeling Jan. 23, 1951 

